Organizing Large Events
In 2013, Oksana, together with her team, organized Art Space Barbareum and raised €3,000 for a pickup truck for Ukrainian defenders. In May 2024, the team organized the Easter Singing, involving 20 partners and raising €16,700 for three ambulances for the front. This united the community and gave Oksana valuable experience in communication and management.
Mission Impossible, or Not?
In September 2023, the first large festival for Ukrainians in Vienna took place, which I had the opportunity to organize together with the church team — Art Space Barbareum. Seven months later, we repeated the event, making it more successful and better.
For the September event, we had only two weeks to prepare. Father Taras Shagala invited me and Petro Ambrik (DJ and musician) to a meeting where he outlined the goal of the festival — a charity fundraiser — and proposed dividing the roles. Petro took charge of the entertainment and music portion, while I handled the culinary, artistic, and leisure activities.
Our goal was to raise €5,000 to purchase an ambulance for Ukrainian defenders at the front. The main source of donations was planned to come from the sale of food, drinks, voluntary contributions, and participation in workshops.
Within two weeks, we managed to find five partners who helped with the organization and execution of the event. For example, Tetiana Pytailo (Ptashka Art Project) organized an art exhibition and even invited one of the most renowned Ukrainian artists — Ivan Marchuk — to the event. The GRND restaurant provided catering and treated visitors to delicious Ukrainian dishes.
The Art Space Barbareum took place in the courtyard of the Austrian Academy of Sciences and lasted more than 8 hours. Approximately 1,000 people visited the event, and more than 50 participants were involved in the concert program. By the end of the event, we managed to raise €3,000 (after expenses). Although this was not enough to purchase an ambulance, we were able to buy a pickup truck.
Easter Singing — Lessons Applied
After learning from the mistakes made during the organization of Art Space Barbareum, our team planned the next event with clearer priorities and better preparation. The event, called Easter Singing, took place in May 2024. This time, we prepared for the event over a month and a half and collaborated with 20 partners. Furthermore, we set a more ambitious goal — to raise €10,000 to purchase ambulances.
The main difference was that the culinary portion was not provided by a restaurant chain but by the “Territory of Divine Love” community. This step helped retain a larger share of the revenue and save on labor costs by engaging volunteers. We also collected fees from souvenir vendors (both as an entry fee and as a percentage of sales, if applicable). Most importantly, all other partners also contributed to raising funds for the shared goal. One of the event’s media partners was Kryla Communications, a video production company that created a feature about our event for the Ukrainian TSN news program.
In the musical part of the event, not only musicians and singers performed, but also choirs singing traditional Easter songs and dance groups. The highlight of the festival was the performance of the famous Ukrainian singer Oksana Bilozir, who performed for the audience on a charitable basis.
Overall, the event exceeded all expectations, and we managed to raise €16,700 in donations, with which the parish purchased three ambulances. It was a unifying event: both for non-profit organizations and for the Ukrainian community in Vienna.
Organizing such large-scale events gave me many new impressions and experiences, especially in communication, management, and design.